TVGuardian Foul Language Filter Company Touts Passage of Child Safe Viewing Act

The recent passage of the Child Safe Viewing Act has brought criticism as well as support. The Act allows parents to use new video-editing technology to protect their children from offensive content by deciding what their children see and hear on television and in movies. By merging video-editing software with TV sets, DVD and VCR players, cable boxes and satellite receiver boxes, objectionable or inappropriate scenes and language can be cut or muted.

After the passage of the Child Safe Viewing Act on Aug. 2, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) expressed its concern that the legislation may represent a step toward expanding the FCC's censorship authority to include Internet content. According to the CDT's website, it's work is about promoting "democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age."

In an Aug. 14 press release, the president of TVGuardian, a Steamboat Springs, Colo., company that makes the Foul Language Filter, made a strong argument in favor of the recently passed Act.

Britt Bennett, TVGuardian president, said the "V-Chip may have been okay ten years ago, but newer technological advances now need to be considered." In comparing and contrasting the V-Chip with his company's technology, Bennett said the V-Chip is like a "blunt tool that knocks out entire programs for a single bad word. TVGuardian is more like a scalpel that removes just the objectionable portions and allows you to enjoy the rest."

The TVGuardian Foul Language Filter also allows viewers some options. Parents, or anyone who finds certain programming objectionable, can remove just the offensive language, for example. When activated, the Foul Language Filter scans the already-existing closed captioning to detect and mute offensive phrases. It then shows a profanity-free version of the muted phrase in the captions. Viewers can choose from a variety of strictness settings, depending on their personal preferences.

On the TVGuardian website, FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate is quoted as saying: "TVGuardian technology actually detects and filters profanity and other offensive phrases chosen by the parent - including 'hate words' and racial slurs - while you watch movies or TV shows."

Bennett said he believes the passage of the Child Safe Viewing Act is timely because "offensive language on TV is increasing, and a full 70% of parents are concerned about it. The Cable Industry says the solution is to provide parents with the tools they need to control offensive content, yet they are not offering the most advanced tools available. Cable companies have yet to adopt language filtering technology. The closed captioning data needed to detect and mute the language is already embedded in the video signal, waiting to be used."

Bennett said some people argue that "legislation is not necessary because TVGuardian is already available in the marketplace. But the TVG units currently being sold will no longer work once the switchover to digital TV is complete. HD programming requires tools like TVG to be built-in, integrated features. External boxes will no longer work. That's the case for broadcast TV, cable and satellite. Any parent raising kids today knows it's getting harder and harder to control what they're exposed to on TV. TVG is a simple tool to help such parents and we applaud Senator (Mark) Pryor and the Child Safe Viewing Act for helping advance that cause."

So far, the TVGuardian technology has been placed in over 10 million TVs and DVD players. It is also now being offered to the leading cable and satellite providers, as well.

Sources:

Press release, TVGuardian Reacts to Criticism of Child Safe Viewing Act; http://www.prweb.com/releases/TVGuardian/Child_Safe_Viewing_Act/prweb546633.htm

Center for Democracy & Technology; http://www.cdt.org/about/

TVGuardian; http://tvguardian.com/gshell.php